Best Beverage Mart in the Town of Menasha also sold sporting goods and had an indoor archery range. / Maureen Wallenfang/Post-Crescent Media

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Maureen Wallenfang

Post-Crescent Media

Answer: Best Beverage Mart began its going-out-of-business sale in January and shut down its attached indoor archery range in February. Now, with just coolers to sell off, the building is closed and has a for sale sign out in front.

The business is at 1031 Appleton Road in the Town of Menasha.

It was a unique facility that had liquor sales, fishing and archery equipment sales, archery lanes and a 3D target archery range in a large attached warehouse space. Its motto was “booze, beer, bait and bows.”

The building was damaged in a Feb. 2011 fire, but was restored and reopened that May.

Owner Gene Kuchenbecker said there were multiple reasons for the closure, including heavy competition for liquor sales from every gas station and grocery store, the effect of the economy on customers, future government regulations and his own health issues after a quintuple bypass.

He put the place up for sale in October, and said five different people looking at the place backed away in November.

“They all backed out when Obama was reelected,” he said.

Things did not get better from there.

“We had the worst December we’ve had in 20 years. People don’t have money to spend right now,” he said. “Two years ago, before the fire, we had 42 shooters. The same time this year, we had three.”

He said he saw no improvement in sight and expressed worry about the effect of future government-mandated healthcare costs on small businesses like his.